Joan Montgomery

Joan Mitchell Montgomery (6 July 1925 – 5 February 2024) was an Australian schoolteacher and principal.

Early life Joan Mitchell Montgomery was born in Melbourne on 6 July 1925, the eldest of four daughters of Beryl and William Montgomery. She attended Presbyterian Ladies' College in East Melbourne, where she played tennis and baseball. In April 1942, when Montgomery was 16, her mother died and her father's cousin Anne Montgomery came to live with the family; 20 months later, in January 1944, Montgomery's father died and Anne Montgomery assumed responsibility for the four girls.

Montgomery studied at the University of Melbourne and graduated in 1948 with a bachelor of arts degree and a diploma of education.

Montgomery served the wider educational community as president of the Association of Independent Girls' School of Victoria and president of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools of Australia (AHIGSA). During her tenure with AHIGSA she advocated for a merge with the Headmasters' Conference of the Independent Schools of Australia (HMCISA), a move which occurred in August 1985 with the formation of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA). She was also a member of the council of The University of Melbourne, Ormond College and Medley Hall. She was a board member of the Alfred Hospital, Geelong College, Melbourne Grammar School, Woodleigh School and St Margaret's School.